Life

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

For school, the little has to read at home for at least 30 minutes per day. Every 15 minutes, we get to count a “step.” They are supposed to have 4 steps per day as a minimum. She gets 2 at school and 2 at home to equal the 4. But sometimes she and I go over the top. 

Things that count, parents/siblings/grandparents reading to them, them reading to the family member, reading books, magazines, etc. A Kindergartener’s book if you’ve looked lately is very thin. That means that you can read 1-6 books in 15 minutes. Sometimes though she and I go for chapter books. And I’m not really sure how, but late last fall we got into watching all the Harry Potter movies. She loved them. I was a bit leery at first, afraid we’d deal with nightmares. Not that they are that scary, but she’s 5. They could be scary to a 5-year-old… She is team Gryffindor. Her favorite character is Hermione. Pretty sure because she’s the lead female character. At that age, it matters.

So I figured if she liked the movies so well, we should read the books. I have Kindle Unlimited and they are on there so no big deal. We can only read 1-2 chapters a night depending on the length. Toward the end, she starts getting restless but that happens when we read 16 children’s books too. We started it on December 11, 2019, and ended on January 6, 2020. (more…)

A Week in the Life, Vol 1

Welcome to 2020. Can you believe it’s already 2020? I swear I went to bed one night and the next day was the new year. Oh wait, that’s how that works, isn’t it?

Well, our New Year’s started off with a quick kiss at Midnight. Then it was off to dreamland because we had to get up early to head to the lake for the New Year’s Day Dive.

The next day at the lake, I didn’t partake in SCUBA Diving. I think I’m too much of a wimp. Now hubby and about 4 others have dry suits. Maybe if I had a drysuit I might try it, but I don’t have one so… We actually had 16 divers and 19 people on land. I heard the water temp was like 45-50 degrees. The on-surface temp was 56 degrees. The wind was frigid so that’s what made me sit there and contemplate life and why I thought it might be fun to go to the lake on New Year’s Day. As the surface temp warmed up it got better but the wind picked up. We had a wind block for a while made out of tarps but when David had to leave, we lost those. Brrr… (more…)

We got a Puppy

We got a puppy. I have been wanting a Basset Hound for as long as I can remember. Maybe even longer than that. Well… We finally got one.

She’s 9 weeks old. I’m starting to wonder why… maybe we fell off our meds. I’m now having to potty train another dog when it’s cold outside. Oh, it snowed yesterday. And I’m having to potty train a dog. The last couple of dogs I’ve had to do this to, just so happens it was this time of year. What were we thinking? UGH! (more…)

Loss for Words

You will teach them to fly, 
But they will not fly your flight.

You will teach them to dream,
But they will not dream your dream.

You will teach them to live, 
But they will not live your life.

Never the less, in every flight,
in every life, in every dream,
the print of the way you
taught them will remain

                       ~Mother Theresa

I truly am at a loss for words. The person who has spent most of her life talking about something… or so I get teased. And while I was shy as a kid, if I knew you, I’d talk your leg off. I’m still shy but I’ll still talk your leg off. Don’t worry.

I have spent the last few days engulfed in a man and his family. It’s hard to believe this man was only in my life for 6 years. 

7 years ago January, my husband and I got the chance to try SCUBA diving. Honestly, I was so apprehensive that first day that I almost didn’t go. I thought it was a special thing that some friends were doing because of their family and that we were just inviting ourselves in. Turns out, it wasn’t that at all. We had so much fun that first time, we went the next month to try it again.

In June that year, we wound up going to the lake and helping out during one of their Underwater Safari Hunts. Of course, we weren’t certified SCUBA divers, so we could only help on land, but we jumped in no matter what and helped when/where we could. The next week we were signed up for classes. 2 classroom classes, 2 pool classes, and 2 days in the lake and we were officially certified SCUBA divers. (more…)

Book Review: Blue Bayou by Jiffy Kate

I had a hard time with this book. It was an easy read but the writing was a little lackluster after reading everything else I have this year. I wasn’t impressed with the writing. Then I realized that this was two writers. I could see a difference. I hate to say that it was easy, but it kind of was. The writing just didn’t seem to flow as easily. I will give this story props too, it gave both characters side of the book. I really like that.

Blue Bayou by Jiffy Kate

The road to self-discovery leads Maverick Kensington deep into the heart of New Orleans. The colorful characters, beautiful scenery and the hot mess of a woman he finds along the way offer him the perfect place to reinvent himself. (more…)

Book Review: I Dare You – Ilsa Madden-Mills

Once I realized I read these in the wrong order, I had to continue :). This was an interesting book to me. All the main characters of the Ilsa Madden-Mills books have been interesting. I’m glad this turned out the way it did. While you can kind of bet it will… you never know. Sometimes stories surprise you.

I liked the character of Maverick. I really did. And while Samantha Christy bounces back and forth or stays on one character for multiple chapters, Ilsa Madden-Mills makes the chapters as they’re needed in each voice. It’s quite an interesting way to read. I like it. I really do.

I Dare You – Ilsa Madden-Mills

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills returns with an all-new swoon-fest of a novel about what happens when you look beyond labels and take a chance on love. 

Badass Athlete: I dare you to…
Delaney Shaw: Who is this?

The late-night text is random, but “Badass Athlete” sure seems to know who she is… (more…)

Book Review: I Bet You – Ilsa Madden-Mills

 

While these are stand-alone books, I really wish I’d have read them in the correct order. I didn’t so oh well. It was interesting to see the ending of the third book in the series and then see what kind of lead up to the beginning of the book. haha.

I Bet You – Ilsa Madden-Mills

New Standalone Sports Romance

Sexy Athlete: I bet you . . .
Penelope Graham: Burn in hell, quarterback.

The text is random but Penelope figures out exactly who “Sexy Athlete” is. And why she shouldn’t take his wager. (more…)

Book Review: I Hate You – Ilsa Madden-Mills

I was ready to read about the last firefighter in The Man on Fire Series by Samantha Christy, but the 3rd book isn’t out yet. So that meant I had to venture off and read something different. I had never heard of Ilsa Madden-Mills, but I hadn’t heard of Samantha Christy either. Something caused me to go ahead and take a chance. I’m really glad I did. However, I did find this was a stand-alone that was the third of another series. Stand-alone as in you can read and not miss anything, but I read this series out of order and wished I hadn’t. So news flash, this is the 3rd book. Start with I Dare You and then I Bet You before you read I Hate You.

Now that we have that cleared up… (more…)

Book Review: Sparking Sara – Samantha Christy

After reading Igniting Ivy I was leery to read this next book. While reading Igniting Ivy I kept wondering who was going to be the next firefighter to have a book. I had it narrowed down to 3 candidates and this one was one of my 3 choices. I love that it was Denver in fact. Especially because you saw part of his story in Stealing Sawyer. We got more of the story and we were able to watch it all unfold. I was cool with that! (more…)

Book Review: Igniting Ivy – Samantha Christy

This book ticked me off. In all the female characters and even some of the male characters that Samantha Christy writes, they overthink, over-analyze, and sometimes are just a total pain in the butt. I wanted to scream at Ivy. She really upset me. She was being stupid. I’m glad that she was a book character and not a real-life person. She might need a bitch slap (pardon my language). I’m just glad that there is a man on the cover of this book! And by the way, one thing I love about Samantha Christy’s writing… you see both main character perspectives. (more…)